By Shelba Waldron - Director of Club Education and Outreach, USA Gymnastics
Include Someone and Make a Difference: Sometimes children need to learn ways to include a peer. Some athletes might be shy or don't know how to involve a new person. Have a conversation with your team about the importance of including everyone.
Introduce yourself to new members of the team.
Involve others in your conversations.
Find something encouraging to say at every practice.
Show an interest in learning about someone different from you.
Share notes with positive messages.
Notice when someone is alone and invite them to join you.
Create a Poster
Encourage your athletes to create a poster either at home or at the club to hang on the wall. Encourage them to share poetry or artwork on the topic of bullying. Submissions can be about topics such as: What is bullying? How does bullying make me feel? What can I do to prevent bullying? You can use pencils, markers, paint, crayons, or other art mediums.
Inclusion Chain
Create a powerful visual statement about uniting for kindness, acceptance, and inclusion. Each athlete will write a message on a strip of construction paper of the color of their choosing. The strips are then connected into a chain to illustrate the power of uniting for a common cause.
Aluminum Foil Fran
Using aluminum foil and a permanent black marker, have the participants trace an outline of a full body person. Once the outline has been traced, the participants will write unkind, rude, and disrespectful statements all over the outline. After Fran is filled with a variety of negative comments, have the participants fold the drawing into the smallest and tightest square they can make. Once they have folded the drawing, ask one of the athletes to try to unfold it. They will find that it's almost impossible and the aluminum foil will begin to tear and crumble.
The crumpled aluminum foil is a visual demonstration of the damage bullying can cause and that the pain is difficult to undo. If time allows, repeat the exercise but with positive comments such as, "You were great today at bars!" or "We are so happy you are on our team!"
